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I noted a few months ago that the qualifications section in our staff record at work is completely empty, and there is no way for us to edit it.

I wrote to our retention team at the time, suggesting that this might be fixed, so that our employers and managers could better understand who works for them.

I found it frustrating, I told them, that while I can update my religion or sexuality, there’s no way to tell my superiors about my educational background or experience.

Last week, in a conversation with the head of recruitment, however, I learned that this is entirely by design. They don’t want to know where people studied, they told me, because that’s an open door to discrimination.

Really? So for that colleague of mine from a deprived socioeconomic background who achieved a First from the University of Oxford, her degree is completely worthless? Hmm, everything’s starting to make sense.

The head of recruitment’s argument being that displaying the institution of study would enable a prejudiced recruiting manager to select only candidates with degrees from a so-called Red Brick or Russell Group university, thus depriving other graduates of opportunities. Fair enough.

But there are plenty of other ways a candidate may be discriminated against, where an acknowledgement of their academic achievements would be helpful. Perhaps, whether due to introversion or hidden disability, they do not perform well at interview. Could it be that they’re in fact well qualified for the role they keep getting passed over for?

As it happens, I’m all for egalitarianism. In my workplace, I’m more qualified than many of my superiors on paper, but I recognise they have a wealth of experience I don’t. I’m not snooty about kind of institution, either. In fact, I really wish I’d pursed the vocational degree I wanted to from what was supposedly a lesser institution.

Nevertheless, I do regularly see another kind of discrimination in our workplace: people passed over for selection or promotion because they appear to be over qualified. Why? Because no self-interested manager wants to employ somebody they believe will ultimately replace them in a few short years.

Discrimination works both ways. And so it is that the bright young graduate moves on after repeatedly being denied the promotion they undoubtedly deserve. If only their managers could see how qualified they are and what an asset to their organisation they could be if allowed to flourish.

But no, alas, our qualifications turn out to be completely worthless. You just need a face which fits, self-confidence, and the right kind of personality. This is what will carry you far. Nobody cares about that other stuff.